House number indicating device



July 1, 1952 c. M. DUREY EoUsE NUMBER INDIGATIEG DEVICE Filed Feb. 27, 1948 IN V EN TOR.

,4 TMR/VE Ys Patented July 1, 1952 UNITED `STATES PATENT OFFICE d HOUSE NUIWBER INDICATING DEVICE Clarence M. Durey, University Heights, Ohio Application February 27, 194s, seria1N0.11,467

Claims. 1

This invention relates to the art of devices for indicating house numbers, at night as well as during daylight, and is an improvement upon that disclosed in my co-pending application Serial No, 739,433, iiled April 4, 1947.

As in my co-pending application, supra, so here also the general object is to provide a unitary form of device which is capable of being adjusted so as to display the number of any given house, thereby permitting the same device to be employed for different houses.

The particular object of my present form of invention is to provide such a device with means whereby different numbers, whether an even or an odd number of digits, may be positioned in a most effective manner so as to present proper appearance with respect to balance within the display opening of the device.`

A further object of the present invention is to provide such a device in a comparatively compact form which will prove practical in handling and installing as well asin the actual use of the same during both daylight and at night, and which may be sold at a price within the range of practically everyone who `might have need for such a device.

Other objects will appear from the following description and claims when considered together with the accompanying drawing.

Fig. l is a perspective view of my present form of device;

Fig. 2 is a view taken on line 2-2 of Fig. 3;

Fig. 3 is a view taken on line 3-3 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is an end elevation of the carriage upon which the tapes are mounted;

Fig. 5 is a partial view taken on line 5-5 of Fig. 3; and

Fig. 6 is a front elevation of the carriage which appears in Fig. 4 in end elevation.

It is to be understood that the present form of disclosure is merely for the purpose of illustration and that there might be various modications thereof without departing :from the spirit of my invention as herein set forth and claimed. p

The housing I has its iront wall provided with an opening to which is applied a transparent glass 2 by cementing the same to the inside thereof. The upper and lower edges of the glass 2 afford a guide means for limited lateral slidable adjustment of the removable carriage 3 upon which are mounted the plurality of separate tapes 4 carrying the indicia, as for instance the series of digits to makeup a housenumber. The carriage 3 may consist of `a rectangular metal frame with its front provided with the transparent glass 2 5 and with its rear open for ready access to the several tapes for setting the `same to display the proper number of a given house. The two ends of each tape are rolled upon spools 6 which are rotatably adjustable with suitable frictional engagement upon the rods l whose ends are mounted in the ends of the carriage 3. These tapes pass about the rods B which are located in the upper and lower corners of the carriage so as to ensure that the tapes will extend in a straight manner just to the rear of the glass 5. The frictional engagement of the spools 6 with the rods 1 may be suiicient to hold the same in the position to which adjusted although there may be provided also spring washers between the adjacent ends of the spools, or any other suitable means maybe adopted for this purpose.

The background of each of the tapes Il is of opaque character and the indicia carried thereby are of translucent character. Each of the tapes has a series of digits, in the present case,

from zero (0) to nine (9) inclusive and may be provided alsowith a one-half (1/2) for use in those cases where a house has a number ending with one-half (l). Each of the tapes may be provided also with an opaque blank space fora purpose to be explained. Also, in order to accommodate the lateral slidable adjustment of the carriage 3, the tape at one end of the window is provided with a widened margin of blank opaque form and is hence wider than the other tapes. This additional width is sufficient to permit such lateral adjustment of the carriage 3 while still displaying the same background of tape at this end of the window.` Likewise the glass 5 is of greater lateral extent at the corresponding end of the carriage. See the left end of Fig. 2 and the right end of Fig. 6.

Since I am here employing separate tapes for the numbers and in order to conceal the lines of division between the edges of the adjacent tapes, I have'provided `the `glass 5 with the masks 9 of sufiicient width and of the same opaque character as they background of the tapes 4 in order to give the appearance of a continuous and uninterrupted background for the number comprising the several digits. The masks 9 may be painted or otherwise provided upon the glass 5 or may be provided in any other suitable manner.

Withinthe housing l there is mounted the electric light bulb l0 which has the usual electric cord extendingV out from the housing and provided with a connector for a suitable socket. In order to preventrundesirable glare of light just in front of the light bulb and in order to render the illumination of the digits as uniform as possible throughout their entire extent, I may mount a semitransparent dimmer between the bulb and the tapes 4 so as to permit proper amount of light to be transmitted thereby and to reflect excess light to the rear wall l2 of the housing, the surface of the rear wall being coated in such manner as to diffuse such light by reflection to all of the tapes. In this way, I may obtain substantially uniform illumination of the entire composite number. The dimmer Il is here shown as being mounted about the socket of the light bulb although any other suitable means may be employed for thispurpose.

The rear wall I2 of the housing` isprovided with means for attaching the same to the wall of a house or any other suitable support, andA such means may be in the form. of screws or nails through holes in the rear wall I2. When this rear wall has rst been mounted separately upon its support, the housing will then be placed thereupon by slidably engaging the upper part of the housing with the kupper edge of the rear wall and resting the lowerpart of the housing upon the flange 12a of therear wall. Then a screw may be secured in the registering holes in the overlying flanges of the bottom parts of the housing and re'ar wall so as vto `thereby hold the entire device in position.

In assembling the parts, after the reels have been set for the desired number, .the carriage 3 may first have its lower edge inserted into the housing and its upperY edge swung forwardly into position past the releasable spring catch I3 to hold thesame in position. Then the dimmer Il may be placed in position.

In the present illustration, the house number comprises ve digits,.one of which is zero This means that the several individual reels have been turned so as to expose these particular digits which together make up the number of the house to which `the device is applied. It is to be understood, of course, that this same device may beV employed for another house by merely turning the several reels so as to expose the proper digits to :make upfthe desired house number. It is to be observed. also that by turning the two'nd reels so as to expose their blank spaces, this same device may be used for a'house whose number contains only three digits, by simply setting the three middle reels so as to expose the digits desired.` That is to say, this can be done while the carriage occupies the same position as when vthe number comprises five digits. Likewise, with the carriage in the same position, this same device Vmay be used for a number of a single digit; this being accomplished byturning all of the reels except the middle one so as to expose the blank spaces upon their tapes and then adjusting the middle tape so as to display the digit desired. Thus it will be seen that it is possible to display numbers of one, three or ve digits while the carriage occupies the same position as indicated in the present drawing.

Then wlienit is desired to display a number consisting of an even number of digits, that is two or four, the carriage 3 will be moved laterally to the left as viewed in Fig. 1 of the present drawing. (The widened tape is indicated in Fig. 2 and Fig. 6;) Then the blank marginal Vportion of the right-hand tape, as viewed in Fig. 1 of the drawing, will be exposed; and, by turning the left-hand .tape so as to expose its blank space, there may be displayed any desired number of four` digits by properly adjusting the four tapes. Then, if it be desired to display a house number of two digits, the two middle tapes will be adjusted so as to expose the proper digits thereof and the other two tapes will be turned so as to expose their blank spaces. Thus, with the carriage 3 occupyingV the other position to which it may be adjusted laterally, there may be displayed any desired number consisting of either two or four digits. Such adjustment of the carriage 3 is to the extent corresponding approximately to one-half the width of the space occupied by one of the digits, and the frictional engagement of the spring catch i3 willbe sufficient to hold the carriage in the position vin which it is set.

YIn referring to the selection of digits in the above-explanation, it is to be understood ,that the one-half (1/2) which may be provided upon each of the tapes, is to be regarded as` a digit since the one-half (M2) may be exposed at the endof a number consisting lofeither an even or an lodd number of digits. It is rather unlikely that Vthere would be -a house number consisting of only the singledigit one halfv (1/2) but this is possible with the present device. Of course, this device may be set for a house number 11/2, 121/2, 1231/2, or `12341/2, for instance; in fact, the digit of one half (1/2) may constitute the last part of any `number including one, two, three or four other digits in addition thereto.

What I claim is:

l. An indicating device comprising a housing with a'transparent window in the front wall thereof, a carriage laterally `adjustable side-wise Within said housing to the rear of said window, a plurality of separate and individually changeable indicia, of substantially the same height as said window, mounted upon said carriage so as to be adjustable therewith and arranged in juxtaposition to each jother across the rear of said window so as to permit a selected combination thereof to be displayed therethrough as a composite sign, said carriage being laterally adjustable a distance corresponding to approximately one-half the width of the space occupied by one of said indicia so as to permit lchanging the position of the sign within said window according to the number of indicia included therein, said indicia having associated therewith at each end thereof blank means of the same background as that of said indicia and of lateral extentl corresponding to that of the lateral adjustment of said carriage, means for mounting an electricrlight Vbulb within said housing and to the rear of said indicia exposed within said window so as to illuminate the same for display, andan electric supply connection for said bulb.

2. An indicating device comprising a housing with a transparentwindow in the front wall thereof, a carriage vlaterally adjustable side-wise within said housing to the rear of said window, a purality of Aseparate and individually adjustable tapes mounted upon said carriage so as to be adjustable therewith and arranged in juxtaposition to each other across vthe rear of said window so as to permita selected combination thereof to be displayed therethrough as a composite sign, each of said .tapes ,being provided with a series of indicia and a blank space, the tape at one end of said window having a laterally extended marginalblank portion corresponding to-the extent of lateral ladjustment of said carriage, said carriage being laterally adjustable a distance corresponding to approximately oneha'lf the width ofthe space occupied by one of said indicia so as to permit changing the position of the sign within the window according to the number of indicia included therein, means for mounting an electric light bulb Within said housing and to the rear of said indicia exposed within said Window so as to illuminate the same for display, and an electric supply connection for said bulb.

3. A house-number indicating device comprising a housing with a transparent window in the front wall thereof, a carriage laterally adjustable side-Wise Within said housing to the rear of said window, a plurality of separate and individually adjustable tapes each having its two ends mounted upon reels rotatably mounted upon said carriage so as to be bodily adjustable therewith, each of said tapes being provided with a sequence of digits from zero to nine inclusive and also a blank space, said tapes being arranged in juxtaposition to each other across the rear of said window so as to be displayed therethrough as a composite number. the tape at one end of said window having a laterally extended marginal blank portion corresponding to the extent of lateral adjustment of said carriage, said carriage being laterally adjustable a distance corresponding to approximately onehalf the width of the space occupied by one of said digits so as to permit changing the position of the composite number within said window according to the number of digits included therein, means for mounting an electric light bulb Within said housing and to the rear of said indicia exposed within said window so as to illuminate the same for display, and an electrc supply connection for said bulb.

4. The same structure as recited in claim 2 hereof and with the addition of means carried by said carriage for masking the juxtaposed edges of the adjacent tapes, said masking means being of substantially the same character as the background of the tapes themselves so as to give the appearance of an integral form of sign.

5. An indicating device comprising a housing with a transparent window in the front wall thereof, a carriage mounted within said housing and to the rear of said window for laterally slidable side-wise adjustment. a transparent window at the front of said carriage, a plurality o! separate and individually adjustable tapes mounted upon said carriage and to the rear of said window in said carriage so as to be adjustable therewith and arranged in juxtaposition to each other across the rear of the window of said carriage so as to permit a selected combination thereof to be displayed therethrough as a composite sign, each of said tapes being provided with a series of indicia and a blank space, the tape at one end of said window having a laterally extended marginal blank portion corresponding to the extent of lateral adjustment of said carriage, said carriage being laterally adjustable a distance corresponding to approximately one-half the width of the space occupied by one of said indicia so as to permit changing the position of the sign within the Window according to the number of indicia included therein, mask means provided upon the transparent window of said carriage so as to conceal the lines of division between the adjacent edges of the tapes, the character of said mask means being substantially the same as that of the background of said tapes so as to give the appearance of an integral form of sign, means for mounting an electric light bulb within said housing and to the rear of said indicia exposed within said window so as to illuminate the same for display, and an electric supply connection for said bulb.

' CLARENCE M. DUREY.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the le of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,165,239 Fritz Dec. 21. 1915 1,523,976 Meyer Jan. 20. 1925 1,530,039 Dosne Mar. 17, 192.5 1,627,751 Sherman May 10, 1927 1,671,574 Evans et al. May 29,. 1928 1,692,633 Dicomes et al Nov. 20, 1928 '1,841,026 Grreenstonel Jan. 12,. 1932 1,852,474 Norum Apr. 5, 1932 2,338,377 Gatewood Jan. 4,` 1944 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 530,154 France Sept. 24, 1921 94,578 Switzerland June 1, 1922 

